Yep.
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The Spurs, the Heat, and system-smart teams
by Timothy Varner
48 Minutes of Hell
There is no doubt the Miami Heat have something the San Antonio Spurs will eventually crave. Namely, superstars in their prime. But that day is not today, and the Spurs are just fine with their mess of old veterans, forgotten free agents and draft overlooks. In many ways, the Spurs are the antithesis of the Heat.
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Advanced Scouting: San Antonio Spurs at Miami Heat
by Scott Sereday
48 Minutes of Hell
http://www.48minutesofhell.com/spurs...iami-heat-3-14
http://www.nba.com/2011/news/feature...14/spurs-heat/Quote:
Ginobili, Spurs brace for latest round of Heat hyperbole
Fran Blinebury
NBA.com
In musical terms, it's quite simple to understand. The Heat are pounding drums and slashing guitars on a stage at a huge outdoor stadium with a stack of speakers that towers up to the sky.
The Spurs are the Muzak you hear in an elevator.
"Look, if Bono, Mick Jagger and somebody big else gets together and form a group, they're gonna get a lot of interest and headlines if they don't do great or if they do great," said Manu Ginobili.
"So this was kind of a big deal -- LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh getting together and going to South Beach. It's a very big deal and it draws attention. It's understandable. But we really don't care."
Maybe that's because when the two teams last met 10 days ago in San Antonio, the Spurs hung a 30-point beating on the Heat in a game that was over faster than a vintage Mike Tyson fight.
So, with four previous NBA championships on their franchise resume and far and away the best record in the league this season, maybe the Spurs should be the ones with the screaming fans and the rock star images.
"No, we are kinda not," Ginobili said laughing. "OK, well, we might be like Mick Jagger because of the age. Mick Jagger is Tim. Maybe I am Paul McCartney. And Tony is Bono.
"At least, as I speak for myself, I really don't care about the hype with Miami. It does not bother me. I think it's good for the league that a team like that gets together -- that young and talented -- and people are talking about the NBA. It's fine. People turn on the TV to see the Heat and, you know, they do see the other teams too."
Ginobili figures that anybody who turns on the TV on Monday night to see the rematch when the Spurs go into Miami (8 ET, ESPN) is going to see a different kind of game, a different kind of Heat team.
"Oh yes, they're gonna be upset," he said. "They're gonna play hard. They're coming from beating the Lakers, which fuels you ... It's a great challenge. As players, we wish all the games were like that."
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Who to trust in the clutch? Popovich as the answer to the Heat-les
by Jesse Blanchard
48 Minutes of Hell
A little more than a week ago, with the Miami Heat coming off an embarrassing loss to the same San Antonio Spurs they will face at home tonight, the Heat faced a last second situation against the Chicago Bulls with predictable results.
Gathered around a television set in the media room in the AT&T Center, beat reporters and internet columnists jokingly began a pool during the Miami Heat’s final timeout—how many seconds would LeBron James dribble away from the top of the key before launching an ill-advised shot. Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News won, the Heat lost.
The Heat have been able to turn thing around in the week since, but tonight still presents a measuring stick of sorts. Because as Tim Varner pointed out earlier, if the Spurs excel at one thing the Heat desperately wish for, it’s in execution.
For all the debate about clutch, execution, and who to trust in the final two minutes, the answer really isn’t about a player (no matter how many hours he shoots after losses). For all the talent the Heat boast, what they lack is what can separate the Spurs from the rest of the NBA: a closer. Because with the game on the line is there really anyone in the NBA you can trust more than Gregg Popovich?
If LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh are some combination of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, then Popovich as George Gershwin, stands as their equal.
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Just quotes, hit the link for the whole piece.
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...-rout-of-heat/Quote:
Spurs aren’t expecting another rout of Heat
Jeff McDonald
...“I’m going to go ahead and guess we’re not going to make 17 threes tonight,” Popovich said.
...“I think what happened last game makes this game more dangerous,” Ginobili said. “We’ve got the feeling it was an easy game, because we made so many threes and everything went our way. It’s never going to be that easy again.”
...“We moved the ball very well to get those 17 threes,” said Ginobili, who combined with Tony Parker to provide 15 of the Spurs’ 29 assists in that game. “They are a team that hekps a lot and collapses the paint, so if we are smart and penetrate a kick, you get open shots. Sometimes you do it and don’t make shots, but it helps.”
...“It was one of our better nights of the season, and one of their lesser nights of the season, and that combination created that (blowout),” Popovich said. “That’s why they call it a game. Sometimes, stuff happens.”
Spurs will win a close game tonight. 102-97